Latch operated clutch with pivoted dog



March 4, 1958 s. F. ANDERSON LATCH CPERATED CLUTCH wTTH PTvoTED DCC 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 24, 1956 March 4, 1958 s. F. ANDERSON 2,825,435'

LATCH OPERATED CLUTCH WITH PIVOTED vDOG Filed May 24, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7/\ 7A /747 @L if United States atent O i LATCH OPERATED CLUTCH WITH PIV OTED DOG Swan F. Anderson, Rockford, Ill., assignor of one-half to Ralph F. Anderson, Rockford, Ill.

Application May 24, 1956, Serial No. 586,983

7 Claims. (Cl. 192-22) This invention relates to mechanical clutches for intermittently engaging a driven shaft or member with a driving shaft or member and for interrupting the rotation of the driven member at a xed position upon repeated operation.

Important objects of the invention are the provision of a mechanical clutch of simplified and improved structure which is self-enclosed and inexpensive to manufacture, which may be constructed to interrupt the drive therethrough at a single ixed point in the revolution of the driven member or at a plurality of xed points without accurate setting of the operating mechanism and which may be operated as a full revolution or as a half revolution clutch. v

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description in which:

Figure l is a perspective View showing the clutch and a suitable driving motor;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig; l

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary side elevation showing the clutch operatinglever and the overload release, the clutch drive arm being shown in neutral position;

Fig. l5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing a moved position of the clutch;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section through another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 7 isa section on -the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 6 showing the clutch operating, lever and the drive arm in neutral position;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary View similar to Fig. 8 showing the clutch approaching neutral position, and

Fig. l0 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 6.

Referring first to theV embodiment shown in Figs. l throughA 5, the clutch comprises a driving member 12, in this instance in the form of a cast body or plate which is attached to a. driving shaft 13 as by a set screw 14 or the like. In Fig. 1, for purpose of illustration the driving shaft 13 comprises the outlet shaft of a reduction gearing 15 secured to the end'of an electric motor 16, the two forming a conventional gear head motor. The driving member 12 is preferably circular in cross-section and at 'diametrically opposed points has pins 17 and 18 secured therein and projecting from an inner face 19.

Coaxially disposed with respect to the 'driving shaft 13 is a driven shaft 21 passing through a bearing 22 in a bracket 23 which may suitably be alixed to thegear head motor 16 as by cap screws 24 (Fig. 1). The end ofthe driven shaft 21 projects into a bore 25 in the driving member 12 and is supported on a bearing 26 for n relative rotation between the driving member and the end of the driven shaft. The driven shaft has an enlarged portion 27 on which is mounted a driven member 28, the driven member having a bore 29 (see Fig. 4) for the reception of a ball 31 pressed inwardly by a compression spring 32 'which is tensioned by a cap 33 threaded into the spring :a6 brlngs the operating lever 52 back to the 2,825,435 Patented Mar. 4, 1958 member 28 to the shaft through the ball, but releasesk in the event of overload on the driven shaft 21. A bearing plate 35 (Fig. 2) is interposed between the bracket 23 and the outer face of the enlargement 27 and driven member 28.

The driven member 28 has an inner face 36 in spaced relation to the inner face 19 of the driving member and has an annular ange or wall 37 extending toward the face 19 and preferably substantially into contact therewith to provide a cavity within the driven member. The annular wall 37 is interrupted at diametrically opposed points by slots 3S and 39 for the passage of ngers 41 and 42 of a drive arm indicated generally at 43 and best shown in Fig. 3.

The drive arm 43 has a large central opening 44 for the passage of the shaft 21 therethrough, and is provided with bores 45 and 46 for the reception of pivot pins 47 and 48 threaded into the annular wall 37 to pivotally support the drive arm for rotation on an axis disposed crosswise of the plane of the fingers 41 and 42 and normal to the axis of the shafts. The driven member 28 has a socket 49 for the reception of a compression spring 51 which bears against one side of the drive arm 43 to bias the arm in a counterclockwise direction facing Fig. 2 about the pivot pins 47 and 48 to bring the finger 42 into the path of rotation of the pins 17 and 18 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

An operating lever 52 is mounted on the bracket 23 by a pivot 53, one end of the lever having converging,

cam faces 54 and 55, a tension spring 56 acting between the bracket and the lever to cause the end of the lever to bear against and ride the side of the driven member 23 as best shown in Fig. 2. Means are provided for rotating the lever about the pivot 53 to bring the end of the lever away from the driven member, which in this instance comprises a solenoid 57 arranged to be energized from a suitable source of power to effect this operation. The spring 56 serves to return the lever to the vposition shown.

The free ends of the lingers 41 and 42 project beyond the perimeter of the driven member 28 as will be apparent from the drawings, and the free end of the lever 52 is positioned to bear against the outer surface of the driven member 28, under the inuence of spring 56, in the path of travel of the protruding ends of the fingers. In the neutral position of the clutch the parts occupy the position shown in Figs. l through 4 wherein the drive arm is held by the operating lever in the full line position of Fig. 2. ln this position the driving member 12 and the pins 17 and 13 rotate free of the driven member. To initiate operation of the driven member and bring about rotation of the shaft 21 the solenoid 57 is energized and thereupon acts through the pivotal connection 58 to move the operating lever 52 from the full line position of Fig. 3 to the dotted line position thereof, thus releasing the drive arm 43 which tilts to the dotted line position of Fig. 2 under the action of spring 51, thus bringing the linger 42 into the path of travel of one of the pins 17 and 18. The drive member 12 travels free of the driven member until one of the pins engages against the side of the nger 42, whereupon the driving and driven members travel in unison. When the solenoid 57 is de-energized full line position of Figs. 3 and 2. v lf the operating lever 52 is immediately returned to this position it will be disposed to be engaged by the finger 41 as the driven member approaches the completion of a half revolution as shown in Fig. 5, whereupon the cam face 59 of linger 41 comes into contact with cam face 55 of the operating klever Vand asjthel drivenmember Vcontinues its rotation f movesgup cam .face 55 to the center position thereby rotating the drive arm about its pivots to Inove'the finger Y construction the; driven member-'is always causedKVV *to stop in the identical rotative position. It will vbe 42 downwardly facing Fig. 2 free of the drive'pin, and t interrupt rotation of the drivenfmember at thecompletion offa half revolution. In similar manner, if theoperating lever `52 is returned Vto the full line position asthe finger 5,2Vapproaches the lever, lthe cam face 61l of the finger engagescam face V54er the operating lever thereby bringing Vthe Ydrive, arm down tothe neutral or full line position' of Fig. 2 and interrupting the drive. It will thus be seen that the driven member always stops at one of two positions disposed 180 degrees apart; In other words,

the driven shaft is always rotated through a half rev`ol11 tion or multiples thereof.V if desired, one of the fingers e maybe eliminated from the drive arm to provide a oner Y revolution clutch. lf, during the course of rotation of the shaft 21, anV excessive Yload'is placed thereon, the jball 31 of the overload released rides upout of the groove 34 permitting Vthe driven member to rotate independentlyof the driven shaft and thereby avoid breakage of the parts.

Flfhe embodiment shown in Figs. 6 through 10 embodies essentially the same principle'aas Ythat previously describedY but has certain additional advantages'. In thisV Vconstruction'the numeral 62, indicates a driving shaftrto which a drivingmember 63 is attached bymeans of a key and 'set screvv'64. Also mounted on ,the shaft is a driven member 65, abearing 66 being interposed therebetween,-.the driven member being retained by a washer f 67Y and a capfscrew 68'disposed at thetend of the shaft. Ihe driven member 65 suitably carries a driven element Vsuchas a gear orjthe like, a segment thereof being indicated at 69. s The 4driven member has an annular ange 71 which may have bearing contact with the driving mem- V'bei 62 adjacent its periphery, the angeproviding 'a cen-Y tral` chamber 72 within the driven member. The flange h'asiaradialrslot 73 for the passage of a nger74-forming part of a drive arm 75, in this instance in the form of.

aiyoke, thev ends of theyoke having openings for the Y' receptionioffpivot pins 76 and 77 Vfor rotation of the drive Vobvious that the operation of this structure Ymay: be

modified by providing another slot such as the slot 63Y at 180 degrees with respectV to the slot 73 and by Yemv ployingV alsecondV finger operating vin Vthis slot as in the Y form of Figs. l through 5, and modifying the operating. lever 6 to provide cam surfaces such as shownin Figs.VV 4

I claim: I ,Y Y y l. A clutch comprising in combination a drivingmemi4 ber adapted for' rotation about an axis, a driven member mountedfor rotationA andn disposed in axial ,t relationship with respect to the driving member for' Vrotation-about said axis,Y the driven Y'member having an annular wall extending toward 'the driving member into kclose proximityl therewith providingf a cavity `between the drivingvand J drivenk rnernliiers,V said Wall having radial slots disposed at ,Y 180 degrees'. with respectto each other, adriv'e element projecting from the driving member into saidcavityandj spaced radially vfrom said axis, a drive VVarm pivotally i mountedion thedriven'member within said cavity having Y k fingers projecting through saidrslots, spring means for vbias'n'ig'said arm about its pivotal mounting to bias one arm. Aspring 78V disposed within the cavity 79 in theV drivenmember bears Vagainst the drive arm to normally Y Y urgeitnpwardrfacing Fig. 6. ,Y Y V ,Disposed on the'inner-face of the driven 'member 63 s and'arranged annular-1y of the shaft 62 areV spaced teeth 81 best shown in Fig. 10. Each of these teeth has a side '82Vdisposedin a radial plane with respect'to theshaft 62 and facing in the Vdirection of travel and a face 83 sloping away Yfroirrthe apex of the tooth so Vas to Vprovidea groove such as indicated at 84 between'adja'cent teeth. The nger of saidngers toward the driving rmember into thepath of rotationV of the drive element, an operating Vlever.

mounted on a stationary supportrfor movement toward- .'Y

and away from the driven member, said operating lever `having ca'm surfaces, "means for movingfsaid lever to bring said cam surfaces into thepath of Vrotation of said,VV Y lingers for Yengagement thereby Yin thercourse'ofV travel n t of said fingers to tilt Ythe drive arm out of engagement Vwith the drive element, and means for moving saidlever away from the driven member to move the Yicrarnsurface out of'theipath of travel of said lingers for engagementV of the drive Varm 0f the Spfiga Y 2. A clutch the drive element under the biascomprising incombination a drivingmefnber adapted for rotation about an axis, a driven member mounted for rotation and disposed in axial relationshipYAY with respect to thedriving memberY for rotation about said axis, the driven memberhaving anY annular wallen'Y tending toward the driving member into close proximity therewith providing Va cavity between the drivingiand j driven` members, said wall Vhaving vradial slots'disposed at 180 degrees with respectto each other, a plurality of drive elements projecting from the driving member into` said cavity and spacedy radially from saidv axis, said'ele- Y mentsbeingdisposed in annularly spacedV relationship,

74 has a sloping side' 85 to enable the finger to be received between adjacent teeth and, into driving engageY ment with faceV 62. An actuating arm 86 analogous to thearrn 52 is pivotedv at S7 and normally caused toY ride the outer periphery of the driven member by a spring 88 attached to the actuating leverand to a fixed mounting.' The free end ofy theV operating lever- 86 has a'cam i face 89 andan abutment 91 arranged in thierpath of the finger 74.`

When the operating lever 86 -is drawn away from the in dotted lines in Fig. 6, whereupon it enters between two ofthe teeth S1 in the manner shown in Eig, l0, as soon as the'continuously rotating driving member631brings the first Yrecess into position. Thereafter the driven mem ber 74 moves with the driving member until operating lever 86V is allowed to return to engagement with the outer surface of the 'drivenmember 65 and thereafter until Vthe finger 74 reaches the position shown in Fig.V 8. Toward the end of this movement the cam face 92 of the driven member 65 to a point beyond the end of the finger` t 74,",spring 7S moves the Adrive Y armv upward as shown finger engages Vagainst the cam face 89 V'of the operating lever whereby'the linger Vis forced down tothe position Vof Fig. 8, thereby moving the finger out from between the teeth 8l and into neutral positionshown in Fig, 6,

' of the drivenshaft, a driven member mounted on said' 'l driven shaft having Lanannular wall extending toward the' driving, member iiltQ @108e Proximity therewith providing; Y

a drive arm pivotally mounted on the driven member ona transverse axis within said :cavity having fingers Y projecting through said slots to points beyond the perimeter of the driven member, spring' means forrbiasing said Varm j about its pivotalmounting from a neutral` position free of the path ofrtravel ofvsaid driving membersto a drive position Vinthe path of rotation thereof, ian 'operating levermounted `ona stationary support for rnovenilentY V toward and away from the driven member, saidY operating lever having spacedcam surfaces, Vmeans for movingsaid lever to bring vsaid cam surfaces into-the pathV ofrotation of said ifingers for engagement by one or the other thereofV in the coursegof travel of said ngers to tilt the drive arml out of engagement with the drive ele: 'Y ments and thereby disconnect the clutch, and means for moving said lever Vaway Vfrom the driven memberto move the cam surfaces away from said fingers whereby the 'drive arm is rotated intov the path of travel of the drive elements under the bias of said spring. Y i.

Y3.V Ak clutch comprising in combination'a driving member'adapted forrotation about an axis, Va driven'shaft Vdisposed in axialalignmentwitnthe driving member,'a

bearing in said driving member for supporting oney end a cavity between the driving and driven members, said wall having radial slots disposed at 180 degrees with respect to each other, a pair of drive elements projecting from the driving member into said cavity and spaced radially from said axis at 180 degree intervals, a drive arm pivotally mounted on the driven member within said cavity, said arm being disposed about the driven shaft and having fingers projecting through said slots, spring means for biasing said arm about its pivotal mounting from a neutral position free of the drive elements to bring one of said fingers toward the driving member into the path of rotation of the drive elements and the other finger in the opposite direction whereby said fingers move in axially spaced paths with rotation of the driven member, an operating lever mounted on a stationary support for movement toward and away from the driven member, said operating lever having cam surfaces arranged in the form of an open V, of sufficient width to span the paths of travel of the two fingers, means for moving said lever to bring said cam surfaces into the path of rotation of the fingers whereby said cam surfaces are operative to engage one of the fingers and tilt the drive arm out of engagement with the drive element and thereby move the drive arm to a neutral position, and means for moving the lever away from the drive member to move the cam surfaces free of said fingers for engagement of the drive arm with the drive element under the bias of said spring.

4. A clutch comprising in combination a driving member adapted for rotation about an axis, a driven member disposed in axial relationship with respect to the driving member and mounted for rotation about said axis, a drive element projecting from one member toward the other and spaced radially from said axis, a drive arm disposed between the members pivoted on said other member on an axis transverse to the axis of rotation of said members, said arm having a portion pro jecting radially beyond the perimeter of said other member, means for moving the arm into the path of rotation of the drive element, said other member having a smooth annular surface, an operating lever having a cam surface thereon, means pivotally mounting said lever on a stationary support for movement toward and away from said other member, spring means biasing said lever into contact with said smooth annular surface with the cam surface on the lever disposed in the path of said proiecting portion, and means for rotating said lever cn its pivot away from the smooth annular surface to move the cam surface out of the path of travel of said projecting portion of the arm.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said driven member is rotatably mounted on said driven shaft, said driven shaft having a recess therein, said driven member having an opening therein adapted to register with said recess, a ball disposed in said opening, and means yieldably urging said ball into said recess when the recess registers with said opening to drivingly connect said driven shaft to said driven member.

6. A clutch comprising, a driving member adapted for rotation about an axis, a driven member including a shaft rotatably supported at one end thereof in said driving member for rotation about an axis aligned with Y the axis of the driving member, the driven member having an annular wall extending toward the driving member into close proximity to one end thereof and defining a cavity around said shaft between the driving and driven members, said wall having a longitudinally extending slot therein, a drive arm including a yoke straddling said shaft and pivotally mounted on said wall within the cavity for movement about an axis perpendicular to said shaft, said arm including a finger extending through said slot and outwardly of said wall, a drive element on said driving member extending into said cavity in closely spaced adjacency to said Wall, spring means yieldably urging said arm about its pivotal mounting into the path of rotation of said drive element, an operating lever mounted on the stationary support externally of said wall for movement toward and away from the driven member, means for moving said lever towards said driven member and into the path of rotation of said finger, said lever having a cam surface engageable with the outer end of said finger in the course of travel thereof to tilt said arm out of engagement with the drive element, and means for moving said lever away from the driven member to move the cam surface thereon out of the path of travel of said finger whereby said drive arm is moved under the bias of said spring into the path of movement of said drive element.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein a plurality of said driving elements are provided on said driving member and annularly spaced thereon, said finger having a fiat radial face on one side thereof and a face inclined to said radial face on the other side thereof, said driving elements each having a fiat face disposed in a radial plane engageable with the fiat face on said finger, said driving elements each having a face inclined to the radial face on the adjacent driving element and engageable with the inclined face on the finger when the finger engages said last mentioned driving element, said cam surface on said lever being engageable with the inclined face on said finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,340,333 France May 18, 1920 2,444,148 Warwick June 29, 1948 2,712,866 Llata July l2, 1955 2,717,676 Johnson Sept. 13, 1955 2,742,127 Mumford Apr. 17, 1956 2,758,688 Pepper Aug. 14, 1956 

